Wesley and the Wesleyans: Religion in Eighteenth-Century Britain (British Lives S.) [Paperback]

John Kent (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521455553 | ISBN-13: 978-0521455558 | Publication Date: August 19, 2002

A critical contribution to the history of Britain and the U.S., this book demonstrates how the search for personal supernatural power lay at the heart of the so-called eighteenth-century English evangelical revival. John Kent rejects the view that the Wesleys rescued the British from moral and spiritual decay by reviving primitive Christianity. The study is of interest to everyone concerned with the history of Methodism and the Church of England, the Evangelical tradition, and eighteenth-century religious thought and experience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What John Kent has achieved is to provide a different emphasis which allows us to see the religious movement Wesley created in a new light. This eminent historian of British religion has produced a slim, provocative book which will probably spur further debate as well as becoming a key text on reading lists everywhere. [T]his is an excellent little book which will create debate among scholars and spark interest in students." Susan Mumm, The Open University, Canadian Journal of History

"...it certainly should be read by everyone who has an interest in the scholarly interpretive issues surrounding the Wesleyan movement." Albion

"The analysis is Kent's book is very broad, encompassing, for instance, the writings of Thomas Hobbes as well as the novelists of Wesley's day. Above all, Wesley and the Wesleyans is fresh and suggestive, because it challenges all existing interpretations of the rise of Methodism...[this work is] always vibrantly opinionated." Books & Culture

"...provocative and interesting..." Cithara

"The book concludes with an interesting chapter on the role of women in Wesleyanism and another that describes the hostility of the church of England. Kent has provided readers with a stimulating and insightful account of 18th-century Wesleyanism. Recommended." Choice

Book Description

This book is a critical contribution to the history of Britain and the United States which shows how the search for personal supernatural power lay at the heart of the so-called eighteenth-century English evangelical revival. It rejects the view that the Wesleys rescued the British from moral and spiritual decay by reviving primitive Christianity, and as such will interest anyone concerned with the history of Methodism and the Church of England, the Evangelical tradition, and eighteenth-century religious thought and experience.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521455553
• ISBN-13: 978-0521455558
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,176,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revisiting the Methodist "revolution", April 7, 2003

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This review is from: Wesley and the Wesleyans: Religion in Eighteenth-Century Britain (British Lives S.) (Paperback)

John Kent is best known for his study of nineteenth-century British revivalism, HOLDING THE FORT. In this elegant, concise study, he takes on the historiography of the late eighteenth century's so-called evangelical awakening. Kent's argument, put simply, is, first, that if the Methodists hadn't seized the day, some other group would; and second, that most of the awakening's effects have been greatly exaggerated. For Kent, Methodism represents an attempt to generate an immediate and emotional spiritual experience, the desire for which lies at the heart of all religions. Methodism's success lay in its ability to produce exactly the kind of experience desired, and not in its theological details. Indeed, Kent is sympathetic to those Anglicans who critiqued Methodism, suggesting that far from being conservative bigots, they often had a point. Kent's attitude to Wesley himself is respectful but hardly hagiographical. Other historians of English religion and politics don't always fare so well; most notably, Kent delivers several brisk slaps to Jonathan Clark, as well as to an unnamed Eamon Duffy, with the strangely cheerful acidity so unique to English academic prose.

The argument's brevity will no doubt raise more questions than it purports to answer. The proofreading could, perhaps, have used a bit more work; I suspect that the historian G. J. Barker-Benfield will be somewhat startled to discover his transformation from male to female. Overall, however, this is an engagingly pugnacious historical outing, of interest to all specialists in the history of evangelicalism, Methodism, and the Church of England.